Vladimir Propp’s Analysis
Italians used folktales to caution their children on various aspects of life. The children grew up emulating characters of the folktales and learning essential life lessons from them. To instill good behavior, they used folktales and fictitious stories to scare the children into obeying orders.
Many versions of “Little Red Riding Hood” were told, which resulted in three main variants and motifs across cultures. One might be inclined to think that the main characteristic of these variants was time. However, Propp came forward to classify the stories into their functions, which primarily reflected on the characters and the main actions in the stories.
One of the most popular folktale variants is the Grimm’s version of “Little Red Riding Hood.” Propp describes the structure of folk tales in more than thirty functions and divides them into seven dramatis personae who act as the main characters in the folk tale (30). Propp pays special attention to the series of functions because the main feature of the folk tale’s structure is a specific sequence of events (16). In the case of “Little Red Riding Hood,” the story corresponds to only the first eight functions proposed by Propp.
Red Riding Hood is sent to the grandmother, and the little girl’s mother forbids her from leaving the path in the woods. Red Riding Hood defies the instructions and meets the Wolf, who inquires about her journey and attempts to deceive the girl. As a result, the Wolf leads the girl astray, and the villain attacks the girl’s grandmother. This story is linked to Propp’s first eight functions associated with the villain’s role (68). Propp defines the morphological function as an act of a character, defined from the point of view of its significance for the course of the action.
Propp’s Functions Applied to the Story Versions
Villainy
According to Propp, a villain is a character who harms another in a story. The main villain in the story of The Little Red Riding Hood is the Wolf. In “Little Red Riding Hood” by Charles Perrault, the Wolf talks the girl into telling him about her grandmother’s house (Tatar 134). He then takes the shorter route to the grandmother’s house and tricks her into opening the door for him. She instructed him to open the door for himself, since she thought it was her granddaughter.
Being hungry for three days, he devours the grandmother and lies down, pretending to be her to trick the girl (Tatar 50). When the little girl reaches her grandmother’s house, the Wolf gobbles her up mercilessly. Due to the villainy of the Wolf, the granddaughter and her grandmother die.
In the story “Little Red Cap” by the Brothers Grimm, the Wolf lures the little girl deeper into the forest to gather flowers for her grandmother. This is a scheme to delay her, so that he can get to the older woman first and feast on her (Tatar 136). To be invited into the grandmother’s house, the Wolf pretends to be the granddaughter.
Upon entering the house, the Wolf eats the grandmother and impersonates her by wearing her clothes and lying on her bed. When the little girl arrives at her grandmother’s, he leaps out of bed and eats her too. Were it not for the hunter, the pair would have died in the Wolf’s belly.
In “Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf” by Roald Dahl, the Wolf feeds on the grandmother and says he has not had enough. Therefore, sits and waits till ‘the little miss red riding hood’ gets home (Tatar 140). He vows to eat the girl the same way he ate the grandmother.
In “The Three Little Pigs” by Roald Dahl, the Wolf terrorizes the pigs and eats some of them. He also destroys some of their houses to get to them. He scares them away until one of them calls the little miss red riding hood for help. There is no question that the Wolf has caused significant losses and danger to the characters in the folktales.
Heroism
Heroism is overcoming the misfortunes caused by a villain in a story. Heroes can also suffer directly from the villains’ actions. In “Little Red Riding Hood” by Perrault, the hero is the girl’s mother, however insignificant (Tatar 132). She sends her daughter to deliver cakes and a little pot of butter to her grandmother, who is ill. It is clear that the mother was worried about the grandmother’s health and her daughter’s safety through the woods.
In “Little Red Cap” by Grimm, the hero is the hunter. After the Wolf ate the little girl and her grandmother, he lay down and fell asleep due to satisfaction (Tatar 136). He began to snore and alerted a huntsman who was passing by. It occurred that the hunter had been searching for the evil Wolf for a long time. He refers to him as an ‘old sinner’ due to his villainy.
As he was about to aim with his musket, he realized the Wolf would have consumed the grandmother. Instead, he pulls out his scissors, cuts open the belly of the Wolf, and saves the grandmother and her granddaughter. If it were not for the huntsman, the pair would have died in the belly of the Wolf (Tatar 35). The hunter then kills the Wolf and saves them from the danger brought by the Wolf.
In “The Three Little Pigs” by Dahl, the hero is the Little Red Riding Hood, referred to as ‘Miss Hood’ by the pig. After the Wolf ate two pigs and threatened to eat the third, the latter was scared and called Miss Hood (Tatar 130). He knew that she had prior experience with the Wolf and had no doubt that she would defeat him. When the Wolf saw Miss Hood, he was terrified. Little Red Riding Hood drew her pistol from her knickers and shot the Wolf in his vital spot, killing him. The pig congratulated Miss Hood for defeating the Wolf and saving him.
Trickery
Trickery is where the villain deceives the victim for their own personal gain. The victims may fall for the deception and unknowingly help the villain, or they may outsmart them. In “Little Red Riding Hood” by Perrault, the Wolf takes advantage of the little girl’s naivety to know the location of her grandmother’s house (Tatar 130). When he gets to the grandmother’s house, he tricks her into believing he is her granddaughter to be let into the house.
After eating the grandmother, he lies in her bed, pretending to be her to trick the granddaughter.He even softened his voice to sound like his grandmother. When she enters the house, she climbs into bed with the Wolf, whom he mistakes for her grandmother.
In “Little Red Cap” by Grimm, the Wolf diverts the girl’s attention from the grandmother to picking flowers in the woods. He even tells her that the grandmother would love the flowers, and she still has time because it is early morning (Tatar 128). He does this to buy some time to get to the grandmother first.
He also tricks the grandmother into letting him in the house by pretending to be the granddaughter. After eating the grandmother, he wears her clothes, including the nightcap, which he pulls down his face to trick the granddaughter into thinking it was her.
In “Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf” by Dahl, the Wolf tries to trick Little Red Riding Hood. He puts on the grandmother’s shoes and brushes, cuddles his hair, and sits in her chair (Tatar, 112). He tricks the little girl into thinking he is her grandmother. However, the Little Red Riding Hood does not fall for his trickery. Instead, she reaches for her pistol and shoots him to death.
Punishment
Punishment is the infliction of a penalty on someone for a misdeed. A punishment may include physical suffering or any change after a faulty behavior. In “Little Red Riding Hood” by Perrault, the author punishes the little girl for listening to and talking to a stranger, the Wolf (Tatar 134).
Little Red Riding Hood talks to a stranger on the way to her grandmother’s house. She shares personal details and gets deceived by the Wolf. The Wolf asks where the little girl is going, and ‘offers’ to visit her grandmother too. He tricks her into using another path to reach their first and eat her grandmother. Perrault uses this immorality to punish the girl by death (Tatar 45). She is eaten by the same Wolf that ate her grandmother.
In “Little Red Cap” by Grimm, the Little Red Cap and the Wolf are punished—the Little Red Cap talks to the Wolf, who is a stranger. The Wolf tricks her into giving him her grandmother’s house location. He does this to eat the old lady and the little girl.
The little girl is punished when the Wolf gobbles her up. In the same story, the huntsman punishes the Wolf for his many wrongdoings. According to Grimm, the huntsman had long been looking for the Wolf, and he refers to him as a ‘sinner’ (Tatar 132).
In “Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf” by Dahl, the Wolf, the villain, is punished by death. The Wolf tries to trick the Little Red Hood by pretending to be her grandmother (Tatar 137). He wears her shoes and brushes, curls her hair, and sits in her chair.
Miss Hood punishes him for his deception and for eating her grandmother by shooting him in the head with a pistol. In “The Three Little Pigs” by Dahl, little Miss Hood punishes the Wolf by killing him using a pistol. The dire Wolf had killed two pigs and was threatening to kill the third, who called Miss Hood for help.
Changes in the Cycles as a Result of Cultural and Social Revolution
Most critics have come forward to analyze and establish the evolution and cultural revolution shown by the Little Red Riding Hood cycle. There are many dynamics in which one can interpret the three variables of the folktales, which evidently differ through generations (Tatar 112). They reflect gender expectations and a series of societal norms illustrated by how the characters deal with the situations. In “Little Red Cap,” the mother warns the little girl not to stray from her path. Straying from the path might include talking to strangers or going anywhere other than her grandmother’s house.
Modernists might not consider this a children’s story, but it magnifies the theme of feminism. In every culture, there are gender roles that clearly draw boundaries between male and female (Tatar 78). Critics such as Ernst Bloch argued that, according to the story, females were portrayed as vulnerable and weak and could easily be swayed to a specific direction (Tatar 134).This is because, when the Wolf convinced the little girl to go for flowers, she did not resist. Here, men are also portrayed as manipulative to get what they want, a perfect example being the Wolf. Others might also claim that the folktales are based on the cases of violence towards women.
Due to the evolution of culture, gender rules changed as women became more brave and not vulnerable.This is shown in Dahl’s cycle of “Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf,” which illustrates that the little girl was not easily manipulated. Better not, she stood up to the enemy and killed him. In Dahl’s cycle of the three pigs, the little girl is a hero who has defeated the Wolf and saved the pigs. Each cycle of this folktale illustrates the cultural revolution in aspects that everybody can relate to.
Works Cited
Propp, Vladimir. Morphology of the Folk Tale. University of Texas Press, 1996.
Tatar, Maria. The Classic Fairy Tales: Texts, Criticism. W. W. Norton, 1999.